2023 BMW i7 review: The flagship goes electric

The flagship of a flagship, the i7 sits at the tippy top of the BMW 7 Series range (there’s also a petrol-powered mild-hybrid variant), combining all the luxe limousine trappings you expect with an all-electric powertrain for the first time. 

Picture a near-silent land yacht with more on-board tech than a NASA spacecraft, and a battery several times the size of the one you might find in a lesser EV.

It’s the pinnacle of the BMW family, and it both looks and drives like it. Oh, and its full name is the i7 xDrive60 M Sport, but let’s just shorten that from here on out, shall we?

Read on for our BMW i7 review.

What does the BMW i7 cost?

Ah, the slightly sticky part (at least for those of use whose bank balances don’t look like a long-distance phone number).

The i7 is yours for $297,900, which is a sizeable pile of change no matter which way you shake it. For that money, though, you do get a whole lot of high-end stuff, pushing the i7 nail-bitingly close to something like a Rolls-Royce or a Bentley in the luxury stakes. And when you start to look at it that way it can feel like a bit of a (gasp) bargain.

What do you get in the BMW i7?

The shorter list here is what you don’t get.

Outside you can expect giant 21-inch alloys, Swarovski crystal front lights which dance a happy little jig when you start the car up, an illuminated grille, a panoramic glass roof and roller sunblinds for the rear windows.

Inside, there’s some seriously next-level tech on offer, especially for the backseat passengers, who can kick back in their “Executive Lounge” (the front passenger seats folds forwards, deploying a handy foot and thigh rest so you can properly stretch out – a $9000 option), activate the full-body massage function on their seat, and watch a movie (or take a Zoom meeting) on the BMW ”Theatre Screen” —  a 31.3-inch screen that unfolds from the middle of the roof of the i7. 

It runs Amazon Fire, which delivers the major streaming services straight to your back seat, and pairs with a 35-speaker Bowers and Wilkins surround-sound system that includes seat shakers for a 4D experience. 

Driving sounds are taken care of by Hans Zimmer, with each driving mode adopting its own sound signature, some of which sound like an orchestra sweetly swelling with your acceleration, and some which sound — at low speeds — a little rubber band-like and more off-putting than soothing.

The cool tech continues with BMW’s Parking Assistant Professional, which allows you to control the car through an app on your phone, manoeuvring it out of tight spaces without you having to squeeze into the driver’s seat. Oh, and the automatic doors open remotely, too.

Up front, there is a 14.9-inch curved display for the infotainment, and a 12.3 inch cluster for the driver, and the seats are wrapped in a lovely-feeling cashmere.

The list goes on, as you might expect. But the short version is you will want for little in the i7, and I can guarantee you’ll be exploring exactly how all the new tech works well after you take delivery.

What is powering the BMW i7?

The i7 adopts a twin-motor setup, with an electric motor positioned at each axle. Combined, you can expect a sizeable 400kW and 745Nm, which, despite the i7’s considerable circa-2.6-tonne weight, is enough to push this electric land yacht to 100km/h in 4.7 seconds.

How big is the i7’s battery, what is the driving range, and how long will it take to charge?

There’s a huge 106kWh lithium-ion battery providing the power, which BMW says will return an “up to 625km” driving range on the WLTP cycle. And that is a lot by modern EV standards.

When it does come time to recharge, the i7 is set up for 195kW DC fast charging, which should see you go from 10 percent to 80 percent charged in around 34 minutes, and accrue 170km in driving range every 10 minutes. 

Plugging it in at home will take… well longer. A 7kW wallbox, for example, should take around 16 hours to charge the battery. No Walllbox? A standard should take a touch over 50 hours to get the same charge.

BMW says the i7 will use 22.2kWh of charge every 100km, which is pretty much bang on what we experienced on our test route.

How does the i7 drive?

How is the drive experience? Smooth. Buttery, even. Pretty much exactly what you would expect from BMW’s flagship limousine, only somehow even quieter, thanks to its all-electric underpinnings.

The point must be made here that the i7 is not attempting to be a performance EV. Instead, it feels like its core mission in life is to insulate the driver and passenger from as much of the outside world as it possibly can. And on this, is succeeds.

With the adaptive air suspension set to its most comfortable settings, the i7 glides over the Victoria’s sometimes-dodgy road surfaces, while the substantial insulation surrounding the cabin properly locks out noise, too. 

The result is a feeling like you’ve got the road to yourself, and that any fellow road users are to be seen and not heard, like bit players in a silent movie.

The driving soundtrack, by the way, arrives courtesy of Hollywood score royalty Hans Zimmer, and every driving mode you engage activates a new collection of sounds. Some work brilliantly, others can get annoying at slow speeds, but it’s the closest we’ve gotten to defining what an EV can and should sound like when there’s no engine or exhaust to interfere. 

This is 2.6-tonne of batteries and metal, and we pushed it only as hard we dared on the rain-slicked Victorian roads on our test program, but the i7 proved dynamically competent, feeling both low and flat when cornering, and delivering more than enough power — especially when you activate the surprisingly hoony “Boost Mode” —  when you’re overtaking, or just powering out of a bend. 

But to unleash the riding whip on something like the i7 is to do yourself, and your passengers, a disservice. It does its very best work when you sit back, relax, and let the now-silent world pass you by.

What is the ownership of the BMW i7 like?

The BMW i7 is covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, while the battery gets an eight year, 160,000km warranty.

It also arrives with a five-year Chargefox subscription, meaning you can access that network of public chargers at no cost. The brand also throws in a BMW Wallbox for your house, and the required charging cables.

The BMW i7 review: verdict

Predictably plush and filled with properly astonishing tech, the i7 might seem expensive at first glance. But spend some time in any of its seats and you realise its true competition are the ultra-luxury brands, like Rolls-Royce or Bentley. And when stacked up against them, it’s a (hugely comparative) bargain.

If there’s a more comfortable backseat experience out there, we’re yet to experience it.